The Lovers and the Fighters
by ChristinaGurl05
Summary: There is more to Desi than meets the eye. She is smart, brave, and also has a past with one of the Phoenix's greatest enemies. Will her past get her in trouble? Or will she resist? Please enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi fam. I hope you like this story. Chapter two coming soon (probably). Please leave a review with your feedback or just random thoughts you had while reading this story. Standard disclaimers apply and enjoy!**

Desi stretched out on her porch chair, enjoying the one day a year they had off. Cairo day. She hadn't been involved in Cairo day, but Jack had warned her that Cairo day was cursed and never explained why. Whenever she asked, Jack only said, "We don't talk about Cairo day." Desi didn't mind. It was a day off.

She had spoken to Mac about Cairo day while they were installing a good security system for his house, and actually got a bit of information from him. From the bits and pieces he told her, she concluded that it was a mission that went real bad, real fast. Mac had also said that the last time they worked on Cairo day, the Phoenix had been attacked and Riley had killed someone for the first time, from which she never fully recovered.

A ping from her phone interrupted her calm silence. Desi groaned and picked it up. She had received a text from an unknown number. Desi opened the message, which said, "I have Angus. If you want to keep him alive, you will do as I say."

Desi instantly screenshotted the message, but before she could send it to the Phoenix, another message came through. "Don't you even think about sending that screenshot to dear Matilda."

Desi typed back, "Who are you? And what do you want?" A message came back almost immediately. "I just wanted to meet the new blood of the team in person. You know, the team and I go way back. But I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, Dez."

"So you know who I am, but I don't know who you are." Desi sent. "So why don't you introduce yourself to me?"

"By now, I think you know who I am." said another text.

Desi suddenly realized who the unknown number was. "Murdoc."

"The one and only," Murdoc sent jauntily.

"How do I know that you aren't lying about having Mac?"

"We both know that I wouldn't lie about something like that. But just to convince you…" attached to the message was a picture of Mac, staring blankly at the camera with hopeless, almost dead eyes. His bruised arms were barely visible in the headshot, but the colors that marked him rivaled even the most colorful of rainbows. The picture made Desi shudder. Never had she seen Mac that lifeless.

"What do you want," Desi sent.

"I am holding Angus in a warehouse in LA. If you don't find him before midnight tonight, I will finally fulfill my dream of murdering him. Then after that, I will kill each and every one of you Phoenix agents until there is no one left of your agency." Even though Desi had never met Murdoc, she had read his dossier and could practically hear him crooning the words.

"Why are you doing this?" Desi asked.

"I was bored, so I decided to come up with a fun little game for all of you. Plus, I haven't killed anyone for a while. If you even think about involving anyone else, Macgyver goes boom." Murdoc sent. Then he sent a sinister looking wide smiling emoji.

Desi texted frantically, "Where is Mac?" but Murdoc only replied with, "Tick tock tick tock."

Desi shut off her phone, her mind swirling with thoughts. Should she risk getting Phoenix involved? Should she even play Murdoc's game? What if it was a trap? Knowing Murdoc, it probably was a trap.

Desi checked her phone. It was ten AM, giving her fourteen hours to find Mac. "What would Jack do in this situation?" she asked herself. "He'd probably grumble something like, "'Cairo day, man!' Okay, Dez, that's not helping right now. Think. What would Mac do if you were kidnapped? Probably go looking you as soon as he got the first message." Without even realizing she was doing it, she began humming the song her mother sang to her when she was young, the way she always did when she was stressed or upset.

Desi opened up her laptop and searched every empty warehouse in LA. She was no Riley, but soon she managed to narrow the search down to five warehouses, all an hour's drive away from each other. She immediately hopped in her car, loaded with three guns and tons of ammo, and began booking it to the nearest warehouse.

Desi quietly opened the door of the warehouse, holding a gun in each hand. She cleared the entire building with no sign of Mac or Murdoc. Desi quickly jumped back in her car and sped to the next warehouse.

Desi silently entered the warehouse and immediately spotted a small cinder block room in the center of the warehouse. Desi crept towards it slowly, recognizing it as the same room that Murdoc had kept Nasha in a few months ago. She hadn't been there, but she had read the mission reports.

She opened the door to the room and spotted Mac facing away from her, slumped over the armrest of his chair. Bruises and cuts ran up and down his arms and there was a massive gash on the back of his neck.

"Mac?" Desi whispered. Mac barely stirred and let out a faint grunt. Desi rushed to his side. She lifted his sweaty mop of hair from his face and wiped some of the blood away.

Suddenly, before Desi could react, Murdoc shot out of the chair, wrapped his hands around Desi's neck, turned her around, and cuffed her to the chair. Instinctively, Desi dropped her guns and tried to pry Murdoc's hands off her throat. Murdoc kicked the guns away and let go of her.

Murdoc pulled the sweaty blond wig off and wiped the fake blood off his face. "Whew! That was fun! I didn't expect you to drop your guns so soon, but I guess you'll do anything for the love of your life."

Desi widened her eyes. How did he know? Reading her expression, Murdoc said, "Oh, I know about your little crush on Macgyver. I also know that he has a crush on you."

"What?" Desi asked, surprised.

"You didn't know? Man, I must be getting soft! A psycho like me picked up on human love before you? But then again, I do know a lot about Macgyver. I've been watching him, you see, for a while now." said Murdoc.

"Where is Mac?" Desi said angrily.

Murdoc pulled out a phone with a live feed of Mac's house. "According to the cameras I set up, Macgyver is safely at home, doing who knows what with some electronic devices." Murdoc showed Desi the proof and returned the phone to his pocket. Desi exhaled in relief. At least Mac was safe for now.

"So you're basically stalking him." Desi said.

"I like to think of it as keeping a close eye on one of my besties." Murdoc replied.

"Why, then?" Desi asked.

"Why what?" Murdoc asked back.

"Why did you go through the trouble of setting up cameras around his house just to kidnap me?" Desi elaborated.

"Well, I would have kidnapped him, but you decided to put your stupid little security system in before I had the chance." Murdoc said sourly. "That completely messed up my plans. I didn't have time to figure out how to get past his security system, so I photoshopped a picture, sent it to you, and now here you are! The perfect bait."

"So you're basically going to do the same thing to Mac that you did to me," Desi said.

"Yes! And once I have him here with you, I will lure in the rest of your dear Phoenix team, one by one, until I can execute all of you and fulfill my lifelong dream." Murdoc said, almost dreamily, the way a little girl would talk about being a princess. "And don't worry, Dez, I'll make sure to kill you last, so you can watch what your love for Macgyver did to your team." Desi gasped in horror.

"Now, I need to make the picture I send to Macgyver look believable." Murdoc snapped on a pair of black leather gloves and wheeled in a cart full of weird tools Desi had never seen before.

"Impressive, right?" Murdoc exclaimed, admiring his torture tools. "I made all of these myself. I was _very_ inspired by Macgyver so I decided to become like him. Minus the whole "good person do what's right act." Bleaugh. Let's begin." As Murdoc picked up the first tool, Desi closed her eyes and began humming her mother's song again.

She hoped Mac and the others wouldn't make the same mistake she did. It wasn't entirely her fault, though. She and Murdoc had a past, and that past was why she owed Jack and why she was now working for the Phoenix.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey fam! Thank you to the people who left reviews on the first chapter. Your words encouraged me to write chapter two. For the record, this is not based between any episodes, just a fic that I thought of and decided to write. Standard disclaimers apply, please leave a review, and enjoy!**

**Also note that I don't ship Desi with Murdoc, this is just for the story. I also don't ship Desi with Mac. Mac is mine ;)**

Many years ago…

"Murdoc, come on!" A much younger Desi urged her partner, adjusting the spaghetti straps on her red slit dress. Murdoc appeared from his room, wearing a tuxedo complete with a bowtie.

"I don't see why I have to go to this dumb gala thing." Murdoc grumbled.

"We're going because we have to protect the California state governor from being assassinated." Desi reminded him.

"Yeah, I know that, but why do I have to go? You can protect the governor just fine by yourself." Murdoc said, fidgeting with his bowtie.

"Well, duh," Desi giggled. "But you're part of my cover. I'm going as the senator's cousin twice removed and you're going as my fiance."

"Well, only half of that is a cover," Murdoc smiled, pulling Desi in for a kiss. As he did, he tucked his gun into the waistband of his pants. Desi allowed it for a few seconds, then pulled away from him. "We're going to be late!"

"Relax," Murdoc said. "Besides, aren't you forgetting something?" He held up a small knife and a gun.

"Oops," Desi said, taking the weapons from him. She slid the knife into a compartment on the underside of her strappy black heels and strapped the gun to her thigh. "Let's go!"

Murdoc opened the door of their rented limousine and greeted their chauffeur. "Hello, Nick."

"How are you doing today, sir?" rasped the middle aged man.

"We're doing fine," Murdoc replied. He helped Desi into the limo, got in, and shut the door. Desi pulled out two champagne glasses and uncorked a bottle of champagne. "Just in case we don't like the drink selection there." she winked, pouring it into their flutes.

They clinked their glasses together and sipped the bubbly beverage.

"We're here!" Desi announced, sticking the champagne glasses back in the mini fridge.

"Have a good time," said Nick, the chauffeur.

"Thank you. We'll be back around one." Murdoc said.

Desi took Murdoc's arm and led him up the driveway to the front entrance. When they got inside, Desi had to stifle the urge to gasp in amazement. The room was beautiful. There were many circular tables surrounding a dance floor and a stage, where musicians were playing jazzy music. A big "Happy Birthday" banner was strung above the stage. Waiters and waitresses glided around, offering various drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

Desi accepted two champagne flutes from a passing waiter and handed one to Desi. "Cheers!" she clinked with him. Murdoc and Desi sipped, then immediately spit the champagne back into the glasses. A few people around them sent them disapproving glares, sipping at their own champagne contentedly.

"Bleaugh," Murdoc said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Aren't you glad we had the champagne in the limo?" Desi teased, taking his glass and placing both on a waiter's tray.

Before Murdoc could respond, a tall man wearing a white tuxedo stepped on the stage. The music stopped playing. Desi recognized him as the California state governor whose twice removed cousin she was playing.

"Thank you all for coming to my birthday celebration," he said into his microphone. "I appreciate that you respected my wishes to not receive any gifts this year. I got so many last year that my house is overflowing with them!" Everyone laughed. Desi did too, but she didn't think that was very funny. "Now, let us eat and dance and have a great time!"

The musicians began playing their jazzy tune again. Everyone began drifting towards the tables. Desi and Murdoc found their seats and sat down. Immediately, waiters swooped in and placed plates of steak, potatoes, and roasted vegetables in front of them. Desi frowned at the fancy food, wishing she had a pizza. Murdoc dug into his with vigor.

After they had eaten, the governor announced that it was time to dance. The musicians began playing a slow song. He led his wife out to the middle of the dance floor and they slow - danced together.

"I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom," Murdoc whispered to Desi.

"Okay," she whispered back, not taking her eyes off the governor. The gala was almost over, so Desi knew the mystery assassin would attack soon.

People began joining the governor on the dance floor. Desi smiled, waiting for Murdoc to come back so they could dance. She got up and unconsciously swayed towards the dance floor.

As the governor twirled his wife around, a red dot appeared on his lapel. Desi's eyes widened and she lunged for the governor, but ended up smashing into a dancing couple.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The governor fell to the floor, a bullet in his shoulder, just above his heart. His wife screamed. People swarmed around the governor. The guards rushed in, checked his pulse, and proclaimed him alive.

While the guards tried to staunch the bleeding, Desi looked around wildly for the assassin. She saw someone pocket something and walk swiftly towards the back of the room. Desi chased after him. He turned around for a second to see if anyone was following him. He had big sunglasses over his face. Desi could barely see the handle of the gun tucked in his waistband.

The person turned and ran. The guards who used to be manning the doors had rushed to the governor's side when the assassin had fired.

Desi stopped for a second, pulled the knife out of her shoe, and threw. It nailed the assassin on the back of his shoulder. He screamed in agony, ripped it out, and threw it back at Desi, who barely dodged it.

The man had ran out the back door when Desi caught up to him. She reached out and pulled the sunglasses from his face just as he jumped into a black car. Desi gasped and fell back in shock.

"Go, Nick!" Murdoc yelled. Nicholas Helman cackled with glee as he stomped on the gas and sped away. Desi watched the car drive away and burst into tears. How could her fiance and work partner be an assassin? Her mind whirled as she counted other times when he had killed people in front of her and she was too in love to notice.

After sitting on the curb for God knows how long, she got up and started walking away. She didn't care where she ended up, just as long as she got away from the building where her fiance betrayed her. Without realizing it, she began the short route to Jack's apartment. By the time she reached it, her tears had dried and she just felt numb.

She knocked softly on the door. When Jack opened it, she fell into her best friend's arms. He led her to the couch and she told him the whole thing. The more she told, the darker his face grew. When she finished, he jumped up and grabbed a gun.

"I'm gonna kill that little -" Jack growled, but Desi interrupted.

"No, Jack, please don't. I just want to get away from here." Desi said weakly.

Jack looked at her tear stained face and realized that killing Murdoc would do even more harm to her. He nodded. "I'll get you a new job in a new state. How does the CIA in Washington sound?"

"Can you do that?" she asked.

"No, but I'll make it happen." Jack promised. "No matter who I have to talk to, no matter what I have to do."

"Thank you," Desi whispered, her eyes closing. Jack picked her up and carried her to his guest bedroom and tucked her in. "You can stay here as long as you need." Jack quietly left and closed the door.

Desi lifted her hand and studied the ring on her finger. Instead of a diamond, Murdoc had opted for a blood red ruby in the shape of a heart. When he had proposed, he had told her that the ring was very special and represented them. Desi realized what he meant. The color signified the blood that he spilled without her noticing and the rock's cut was her heart.

She pulled it from her finger and threw it as hard as she could against the wall. She heard something crack and she got up to see if she damaged the wall. Desi picked up the ring and noticed that the rock had a small crack in it, right in the center.

At that moment, something changed in Desi. She put a wall around her heart and feelings. Desi promised herself that she would never fall in love or even make friends at work again. Relationships require trust and trust was something Desi vowed to never give to people.


End file.
